Because It's You
by Lunar Serenade
Summary: No matter how different Ringabel and Alternis may seem, they still shared the same weakness - a certain headstrong tomboy with a big mouth and an even bigger heart. (Alternis/Ringabel x Edea)


_Summary: No matter how different Ringabel and Alternis may seem, they still shared the same weakness - a certain headstrong tomboy with a big mouth and an even bigger heart._

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><p><strong><em>Disclaimer; I own nothing<em>**

**_**_(Slight game spoilers)_**_**

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><p><strong>Because It's You<strong>

**Alternis/Ringabel x Edea**

Alternis Dim was acclaimed all throughout Eternia for his incredible skills in combat. Not only did he possess an unbelievable power and strength, but there was also a certain amount of grace behind his movements, a dark chaotic sort of beauty. He handled his movements with unconscious ease, artfully slaying his foes with a single twist of his blade.

Unfortunately, such grace never translated when a certain blonde was in the vicinity.

At the sight of her, the dark knight tripped over himself, falling right onto the face of his helmet.

"Alternis, are you okay?" Edea cried, rushing forward to stand by his side.

"I'm fine... don't worry," he replied.

The only thing that was truly hurt was his pride. He cursed under his breath, reluctantly turning his head to properly look at her.

And he was once again stunned. No matter how many times he saw her, he was always at awe at her, taken by her bright eyes and golden hair.

"You sure you're okay? That was a pretty bad fall." Alternis felt his pride sting, and he mentally cursed himself once again. Edea didn't seem to notice his dejection and added, "Why don't you just take off your armor? You should make sure you're not injured and stuff."

"No, that is not necessary. I am fine." He jumped back up to his feet, brushing off his armor. "So there is no need for me to take it off."

Her lips twisted into a pout. "You wear that thing all the time! Doesn't it get hot in there?"

"Not really. The Eternian climate is perpetually frigid after all."

Such a response only made her sigh.

"You know, I've known you for a long time, but I have never seen you without your armor."

"Well armor is important to warrior."

That and the fact he felt nude without it. There was no need to flaunt himself anyway. Such pride in one's appearance was terribly conceited. He was never one for vanity and only performed the bare minimum in terms of personal maintenance.

'_When was the last time I looked myself in the mirror anyways?_'

He pondered the curious thought for only a few moments before looking at Edea once again.

Such superficial things did not matter. All he needed to see was Edea, and he was perfectly fine.

"Alternis, I'm leaving soon."

And then everything fell crashing back into perspective. He stood stock still, blinking underneath his helmet.

Edea grew somber, a sad smile on her face. "Master Kamiizumi agreed to train me alongside Einheria. I just need to pack up a few more of my things, and I will be gone." She scratched her head meekly. "I'm sorry for dropping news like this. I would have told you sooner, but you were busy with your missions and haven't been home in awhile so..."

"That is a little surprising to hear..." He admitted, processing the news slowly. "Congratulations. Master Kamiizumi is an excellent swordsman, and under his tutelage you will grow strong."

Such approval drew a sigh of relief, followed by a wide smile. "Well it may be awhile until we meet again, but I look forward to the day our paths do cross! We both will have grown so much, and we'll hopefully be able to fight alongside one another!"

'_Alongside... one another?_'

The thought was too wonderful for him to handle, leaving him speechless.

"And who knows? Maybe by then I will see you without your helmet!"

"I'm not quite so sure about that..."

She laughed, a sort of laughed that reminded him of gleaming sunlight, cracking fire, something just so light and airy that it filled his chest with such a sweet warmth.

"Are you sticking around long enough for supper? My mother is making a huge feast!"

"I will eat in just a bit. I have a few other things I need to take care of."

"Alright. Just try not to take too long." He stiffened when she patted him on the shoulder. "See you!"

He barely uttered a reply, gawking as she rushed out of the room. For a long moment, Alternis did not move, fixated on one single thought.

Edea touched him. _Touched_ him. She actually touched his shoulder.

He gingerly rubbed the spot, feeling a smile curl at his lips, feeling his chest warm and swell.

Then he metaphorically crashed at the sound of laughter. He spun around, the warmth in his armor suddenly blazing into a sauna.

"W-what are you doing here?"

"Oh I was just looking to tell you that supper was almost ready, but it seems Edea beat me to it." Mahzer Lee's smile remained on her face, her brow quirked up.

Such attention caused him to shift in his place, dropping his gaze to a spot on the floor. "U-uh, nothing happened! T-there was nothing to see here!" It really was moments like these where he was grateful for his armor. He was sure his face was as bright as a tomato. "I, uh, will g-get going to finish up some personal errands."

"Alright, Alternis. If you say so." He quickly turned to face the wall, feeling Mahzer's gaze hot on his back.

"She will miss you too, you know." The dark knight paused before he could take a step forward, but refused to face her. "Edea does value you a lot and will sincerely miss you. Hopefully you two will be able to meet and stand on equal grounds.

Though he was too focused on a single phrase to hear much of anything else.

'_She... will miss me._'

He was pretty sure if Mahzer could see him, his face would be brighter than a lobster, a dumb smile wide on his face.

He then rushed off, praising the fact he had armor to hide himself in the first place.

Though she did not need to see him out of it to know what he was feeling. She grew adept at reading him when he believed he was so unreadable.

She shook her head and smiled. "Aw, so sweet. Oh young, awkward love..."

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><p>Ringabel was vastly different from his original persona, but there were a few things that stayed the same. He held the same passion, grace, ferocity when it came to battle… but it was just that passion extended towards the ladies.<p>

Likewise, such grace never ceased to fail him when the subject involved her.

"Admiring my glorious visage, Edea?" He said, half smirking and raising a brow at her.

Edea only scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Who could admire you when you're in that sorry state?"

He opened his mouth to retort, but instead sighed and sunk deeper into his mattress. It was true. When he came back from a long night out, he was absolutely disheveled, sore and covered with bruises and small scrapes.

"But at least my face and my pompadour was saved. Those are valuable commodities."

"I just wished there was more sense knocked into your head. You're just lucky that Tiz was able to find and help you! If you weren't always chasing skirts you would not have gotten into that fight."

"It would be despicable if I allowed those ruffians to handle that girl so rudely," he said and added proudly, "Besides I was not chasing after a young lady."

"Yeah, right. Sure, you weren't."

"Oh? Was there an undercurrent of jealousy, Edea? Perhaps you do care about me?" He said, trying hard to retain his cool and conceal his hope over such thoughts.

"I'm more sick of you going after girls and getting yourself into trouble than anything," she countered blandly, placing her hands firmly on her hips. "You just need to get more serious about things! If you were, you wouldn't have gotten into such a mess."

"On the contrary, I can be very serious."

She looked at him skeptically. "Oh yeah? Name one thing."

"You."

After such a blunt proclamation, she froze in her place and stared. There was no hint of a teasing smile, none of his usual humor in his eyes. She expected him to suddenly laugh and tease her, fixing the atmosphere with an annoying, flirty remark. Still, he met her gaze with solid eyes.

She swiftly recovered and crossed her arms over her chest. "You're such a liar… if you really were serious, then where would you take me?"

His veneer vanished, replaced by wide-eyed shock and a light blush on his cheeks. "What?"

A smile appeared on her lips. "You heard me! If we went on a date, where would you take me?"

Ringabel dropped his gaze down to the sheets, face growing progressively redder as he twiddled his fingers, stammering to himself.

After a few moments of watching him squirm, Edea's face softened, and she giggled. "Oh, just keep dreaming, Ringabel." He froze when she felt him lightly touch his shoulder. "You just relax. I'll be back to check up on you after I go out with the others to buy supplies."

Before he could utter another word, Edea smiled and was walked away, disappearing behind the doorway. He sighed to himself and massaged his face, cursing himself.

Really how could he admit it to her anyways? That he goes out on his own to scope for little cafés and bakeries, fighting his instinct to cringe at the overly sweet confections that would surely make her smile. That his tales of skirt chasing were mostly products of his colorful imagination. That all the ladies he chatted up were lovely women with golden blonde hair. Sure, each lady were beautiful in their own right, but he would not stay around them for long, leaving with a great sense of disappointment that they were not _her_.

They never had the same big mouth or same loud voice. They did not share her scathing honesty or brashness. They did not have her passionate spirit and big heart.

All he ever searched for and wanted was her.

But he could not tell it to her like that. She would not believe him or just laugh at him.

At the notion, he clapped his hands together and established a new resolve. He was determined to win over her affections and prove his worth to her. No matter what it took.

'_At least when I am at better shape._' He dropped his head down onto the pillow at the thought, absently rubbing the lingering warmth on his bruised shoulder. '_But one day I'm going to prove my worth to her. Prove just how much she means to me._'

Little did he know just how much he meant to her. Though he was normally astute, there was some things that he even missed.

Unbeknownst to him, a certain girl stood right outside his doorway, one hand pressed on her pink cheek and the other on her beating heart.

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><p>Edea always was first and foremost a warrior. She was Braev's daughter after all – they shared a similar single-minded passion and and stubborn approach towards their missions. One of those missions definitely did not include love.<p>

But boy, did she get so many suitors after her.

It was always for the same things, boys tailing her due to her parentage, others enamored with her beauty. She rejected them all the same and without any mercy.

Alternis was easy to deal with, lumping him as a good friend and family and refusing to examine the situation any further. Though his affections were obvious, he never tried too hard to woo her, focused also on his own duties and personal goals.

Then were was Ringabel.

He was annoying philanderer, a hopeless flirt. She never liked dealing with such idoitic people, ending associations right there and then. Then again, there was something that she did not mind dealing with when it came to him. Because beyond that, deep down, she knew there was to him than that – she knew he could be resolute in his feelings, strong in his beliefs, caring so much about his friends. He never put her on any pedestals and treated her as who she was, not as Braev Lee's beautiful daughter, but as just Edea.

Not only that, she had to admit he was not bad looking..

At the thought she immediately stopped, pressing her hand against her mouth.

It was impossible… it couldn't be that she really…

She scoffed and shook her head, stopping herself from completing such a thought. No was not the time for romance. How could she figure out her feelings she hadn't figured out how to save the world? She was a woman of priorities, and the world came first.

Edea slapped her face before heading forward, ignoring the steady beating of her heart, the obvious red still left on her cheeks.

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><p>AN: Always wanted to try a Bravely Default fic. I adore the the characters, and Edea and Ringabel are just especially darling.

Thanks for reading ~


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